How do you make a computer *edit

SCK Konvict 7

Born

Posts: 4

3+ Months Ago

I am trying to learn how to make a computer from scratch, buying the parts etc. I probably will be on a limited budget, and will take awhile to gather all the parts, but if anyone can help me the job would be less daunting. *edited

graphixboy

Control + Z

Posts: 1827

Loc: In the Great White North

3+ Months Ago

define cheap...

I built my own 6 months ago for about $950 USD. In a case like this Price Watch (which appears to be down at the moment, sorry) is your friend.

Merlyn

Guru

Posts: 1143

Loc: Oregon

3+ Months Ago

Price watch is excellent when shopping on a budget.

The best way to get a cheap gaming computer is and always will be to build it yourself.

But if you have to buy from somewhere, you could buy barebones machines from numerous places including Newegg, and then just put in the added parts like a video card and memory yourself.

SpooF

٩๏̯͡๏۶

Posts: 3422

Loc: Richland, WA

3+ Months Ago

Merlyn wrote:

The best way to get a cheap gaming computer is and always will be to build it yourself.

About a year ago I would say the same thing. The only reason it was cheaper to build your own was because powerful gaming machines weren't that popular to the general public. However, now you will see a quad core 2 due with 4 gigs of ram and a 8800 GT for under $900. Currently the gaming machine is the standard PC now. Compared to a year or two ago the standard computer was an office PC. So its only really cheaper to build your own if you need some crazy powerful or want very custom parts.

SCK Konvict 7

Born

Posts: 4

3+ Months Ago

thanks, i am going to buy one because i have no experience making one whatsoever

SpooF

٩๏̯͡๏۶

Posts: 3422

Loc: Richland, WA

3+ Months Ago

I Buy Power

Is a pretty amazing place. Its like custom building but it can be cheaper and they put it together for you. Also everything is compatible.

If you need help on choosing parts just ask

SCK Konvict 7

Born

Posts: 4

3+ Months Ago

Actually, how hard is it to make a computer. I would make a computer but I have literally no knowledge how to. If someone could tell me what I would need to buy and tell me how to put it together I would certaintly make one. Plus it would help me in the future because I am seriously thinking of taking some sort of computer class in college.

Bogey

Genius

Posts: 8417

Loc: USA

3+ Months Ago

Wal*Mart

Well, maybe not that, but I don't know what your price range. In Wal Mart I've seeing a computer with a 20" LCD monitor with keyboard and mouse included that cost around $500.

... had 500GB, 3 GB Ram, running Windows Vista.

righteous_trespasser

Scuffle

Posts: 6229

Loc: South-Africa

3+ Months Ago

Well SCK to answer "how hard is it to make a computer" ... It's not that hard ... here are a few things to take note of ...

Things you need to buyCase (Not ultimate necessity but I would suggest having one)PSUMotherboardCPURAMHDDCD/DVD ROMGPU (not necessary if your motherboard has one on-board)ScreenMouseKeyboard

Things to watch out forDoes the motherboard support the CPU?Does the motherboard support the RAM? (there are different types of RAM available that function at different speeds)Does the motherboard support the GPU? (GPUs have different slots which they fit into, the most popular ones are PCIe and AGP, of which PCIe is the faster and newer one.)If PCIe, then at what speed, you get PCIe 8x and PCIe x16, of which PCIe x16 is the faster one, and the PCIe 8x can slot into a PCIe x16 supported motherboard, but a PCIe x16 can not slot into a PCIe x8 motherboard ...Does the HDD and CD/DVD ROM fit onto the motherboard? HDDs and CD/DVD ROMs can either connect via IDE or SATA cables, SATA cables can also be split up into SATA and SATA2, SATA2 being the newer/faster one, and again as with GPUs SATA cables can slot into SATA2 supporting motherboards, but SATA2 can not slot into SATA motherboardsDoes my PSU supply enough power? Check each of your other components on how much power it uses at it's maximum usage and count those together, I'd always go for a PSU with at least 10% more than your maximum just to be sure ...

Building the computerNow that you have all the parts ready and you know that they all work together, you can start assembling the computer, you'll start off by firstly screwing/clipping the motherboard to the case, it will either have screws that fit into the case and then through the motherboard into those screws, or it will have screws that screw into the case and little pins that click into those through the motherboard ... Please make sure that the motherboard is the right way around so that the ports that should be at the back of your computer are at the back and also add the correct back-plate (will come with your motherboard)

Now you can add the PSU, it goes in the top-back corner of your case and it screws in with 4 screws at the back ... make sure that the ports are at the back and that the PSU is the right way around so the screws fit in perfectly ...

Now that the motherboard is securely part of the case, you can start adding the other components onto it ... Firstly I would now connect the CPU which usually consists of two parts, the CPU and the CPU-Fan ... firstly you'll put the CPU down on the motherboard in it's space (there is only one place where it'll fit in, and it needs n force, it just slides in easily) ... then you'll place the CPU-Fan over the CPU and it usually just clips into the motherboard

After that I'll suggest adding the RAM, the RAM slots into the motherboard into a rather long, thin slot ... usually rather close to the CPU, and many times there is more than one slot ... and you'll notice that it can go in only one way around, and may require a little bit force to make sure it's properly inside ...

You can now add the HDD and The CD/DVD ROM. The CD/DVD ROM can slide in from the front of the case, with many cases you just need to slide off a front panel piece to make space for it ... and the HDD goes from inside the case and slides into a metal cage in the front of the case which is perfectly sized for it, and then you can tighten both of then with screws provided. You can now slot the SATA/IDE cable into the HDD and CD/DVD ROM and into the motherboard, IDE cables have space for two devices and SATA cables only for one, so if you are using IDE cables you'll only need one, if you are using SATA cables you'll need two.

Then if you have a GPU you can insert that now, there is once again only one place to add this onto your motherboard, just look for the corresponding slot ...

Now that everything is in place you can connect the power, motherboards need at least 2 power plugs plugged into them, usually the first one is a big 20-pin power plug with maybe an additional 4 pins (depending on the motherboard) and the CPU-Fan also needs power, and it plugs in somewhere relatively close to the CPU with a 4-pin small power connector ... Also the HDD and CD/DVD ROM needs power and they have either a 4-pin power connector (IDE cables) or a thin flat power connector (SATA cables), in some cases the GPU will also need power and it usually takes up a 6-pin or 4-pin power plug.

Last thing you'll need to connect is the case's front panel (Power button, Reset switch, HDD LED and Power LED) these you will have to check up in your motherboard manual because there isn't really a default ...

Now you can do your first test run, keep the side panel of the case open and add the power cable to the back of the case into your new PSU, now you should see a little LED light on your motherboard lighting up somewhere (most have it, some may not), if you don't see the light and know that everything is connected or if you see the light, you can now boot up your machine, plug in the keyboard and mouse and screen and power up the computer.